Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This Saturday brings remixes from James Brown, live rarities from Daryl Hall and - yes - a jump on some Christmas catalogue.
James Brown, We Got to Change / Soul Power: The Remixes (Republic/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon)
"We Got to Change" was an exciting find earlier this year: an unreleased 1970 track featuring an early version of The J.B.'s, issued to promote a multi-part documentary on The Godfather of Soul. This EP collects two remixes of the track commissioned for the fitness app Peloton, along with an exciting mix of "Soul Power" by electronic musician King Britt, who re-composed the multitracks live as a demonstration for a class he teaches at the University of California - San Diego.
Daryl Hall, What's in Your World EP (BMG) (iTunes / Amazon)
Daryl's digital drops aren't done yet! Things move into the era of 1996's Can't Stop Dreaming - initially a Japanese exclusive, released worldwide some seven years later - with the album's second single, "What's in Your World." It's backed by live versions of lead single "Cab Driver" and the album's title track.
It's coming...Legacy Recordings has started hanging some ornaments from their Christmas catalogue!
Train, Christmas in Tahoe (Extended Deluxe Edition) (Sunken Forest) (iTunes / Amazon)
Adult-contemporary survivors Train issued their first holiday album in 2015, a combination of modern favorites ("This Christmas," "2000 Miles"), classic carols ("O Holy Night"), and a few originals. This digital expansion ups the stakes with three bonus tracks: renditions of "Blue Christmas" and "Run Rudolph Run," and a "Tahoe" version of "Shake Up Christmas," originally written and recorded in 2010 for a Coca-Cola ad. (A version with two more tracks was issued at the time of original release as an Amazon original and is linked above.)
Andy Williams, Christmas Present (Columbia) (iTunes / Amazon)
Unbelievably, this weekend marks the digital debut of late Christmas legend Andy Williams' third and final Columbia yuletide long-player. 1974's Christmas Present was the most atypical of his three such platters for the label, and perhaps the most personal. Other than the gentle, MOR-leaning title track recorded in New York with producer Larry Brown and conductor Jack Feierman in August 1974, the album of all religious material was cut at London's Music Centre in 1973 with The Mike Sammes Singers on background vocals, Dick Glasser as producer, Ernie Freeman as arranger, and Academy Award-winning film composer Ken Thorne (Help!, Superman II and III) as conductor. The moving and reverent Christmas Present offered beautifully-sung carols and hymns such as "What Child is This?" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," all showcasing Williams' pure, pristine tone. Christmas Present stands alone in Andy's discography as a reminder of the true meaning of the most wonderful time of the year.
John Klein, Let's Ring the Bells All Around the Christmas Tree (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)
Trained by Igor Stravinsky and Nadia Boulanger, John Klein was a musical renaissance man who made several albums featuring carillons for Columbia and RCA Victor in the 1950s and 1960s. Let's Ring the Bells All Around the Christmas Tree followed such holiday LPs as Caroling on the Carillon and A Christmas Sound Spectacular (in Living Stereo). It was recorded at the 1964 World's Fair in New York on a carillon built especially for the occasion. The arrangements were by Henri Rene, who had previously scored such classics as Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby." The sound of ringing bells is a bit of an acquired taste, but this release is a reminder of the wide variety of Christmas music that achieved popularity in mid-century America.
Rich D says
Andy Williams' "Christmas Present" was always, and still is, my favorite of his three Columbia Christmas albums. Full of religious tracks sung perfectly by Andy - so pure and beautiful - Andy at his finest !!!
John Foster says
If you like that James Brown "Soul Power" remix, be sure to look on YouTube for Bill McClintock's mashup of James Brown's "Soul Power" with Rage Against the Machine's "Take the Power Back". He's mixed them very well. While there, check out Bill's other mashups!
gimpyforever says
wow thank you!! his mashups are great, VERY well done!! Rick 🙂